By DESTINY RAMOS

Katie Mackenzie, a tenth grade honors English teacher at Citrus Valley High School, who is in her 18th year of teaching, answers 18 questions about herself.

Mrs. Mackenzie has been teaching for 18 years. (DESTINY RAMOS/ Ethic News photo)

Teaching Reflections

Q: How long have you been teaching?

Mackenzie: I think this is my 18 year of teaching.

Q: What is the nicest thing a student has done for you?

Mackenzie: Students are just very lovely. They write nice letters and say hello. Recently, my daughter’s student teacher was a former student and that was really fun to reconnect with him and he wrote me this really lovely letter where, in the end, he was complimenting my daughter but also complimenting me and saying that I inspired him to teach and that was really special. Especially since it’s so many years later. 

Q: What’s the most frustrating thing about teaching?

Mackenzie: I think it’s just things that are out of my control. Like the pandemic, it was really hard.

Q: Which of your lessons is your favorite to teach?

Mackenzie: I like teaching writing. I like after you guys have finished an essay, even though it’s kind of boring. I like going over it because I think it’s helpful. I like when it feels useful, like ‘okay we’re going to get better at this’ so I do actually like going over writing.

Q: What is your favorite thing about your students?

Mackenzie: I like the energy and I feel like sophomores, in particular, get happier as the year goes on. I like sophomores because they are funny and play a little bit and they aren’t too bogged down by stress quite yet, so I love that about them. I also like that they are open to sharing their ideas and they always have good insights that I don’t always think of and I really like learning from them.

Q: What is your favorite story you tell your students?

Mackenzie: I don’t like to talk about my life very much to my students. Like little things, but they’re often interested in how I met my husband and how I studies abroad and I do like to talk about how I studied abroad because it’s fun and it can inspire other kids to do that and I think that it was a really awesome experience but I tend to not talk about my personal life very much. 

Q: What is your favorite thing about teaching?

Mackenzie: I think it really is the connection with kids and getting to meet new people every year. It is interesting how we meet now but then sometimes I meet up with them much later and I do think that sometimes people come into your life when they’re supposed to and I feel lucky to get to meet all these different people and learn from them every year.

Other Favorites and One Pet Peeve

Q: When you aren’t teaching, what is your favorite thing to do?

Mackenzie: I like to hang out with my friends, I like to travel a lot. That’s probably my favorite thing to do actually. I love to travel.

Q: What’s your favorite place that you have been?

Mackenzie: So I studied abroad in Oxford, that’s where I met my husband, and while I was there I got to travel a bunch, and so we went to Prague and Scotland and France and all those places because it’s easy. And my husband’s from South Africa so I’ve been there and I really like South Africa and New Zealand, we’d go because it’s where his brothers live so I don’t know. I feel like I could live in New Zealand but I really liked Prague as a city.

Q: Who is your favorite author?

Mackenzie: Honestly Shakespeare. I know it’s lame but he is my favorite author.

Q: What is your favorite holiday?

Mackenzie: Christmas 

Q: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Mackenzie: I don’t like bad attitudes, like when people are grumpy all the time.

Fun Facts

Q:  If you never became a teacher what do you think you would have become?

Mackenzie: : I used to think it would have been fun to be a lawyer because I like to argue and because I like to think about stuff like that and I like to debate and I love lawyer shows but I don’t think I would have liked the lifestyle. But, I think I would have liked to be a lawyer.

Q: Are you a tea or coffee person?

Mackenzie: Tea

Q: What movie can you constantly watch and never get sick of?

Mackenzie: I really like the A&E miniseries Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcey.

Q: What brightens your mood when you are having a bad day?

Mackenzie: My family, being with my daughter and husband makes me really happy.

Q: If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?

Mackenzie: I think I would move to New Zealand. Of all the places I’ve visited, I think it’s the place where I would be the most happy living. It’s a little bit like Southern California because it’s coastal and it’s kind of metropolitan but there is a lot more open space and it’s very beautiful. 

Q: What was the last book you read?

Mackenzie: It’s from my book club. It’s kind of dark but it’s called ‘Deep Water.’

Lea este artículo en español aquí: https://ethic-news.org/2022/05/21/preguntas-y-respuestas-sobre-la-caracteristica-del-maestro-18-preguntas-con-katie-mackenzie-de-citrus-valley/